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Latest on Ricks
Five-star IMG Academy (FL) defensive back Elias Ricks continues to be a hot topic as the Buckeyes hope to convince arguably the nation's top prospect to make the switch from LSU. I will have an update on Ricks later, but there is honestly not much new to report there.
Ricks is still locked in on that Penn State weekend for his Ohio State visit and still plans to take all five official visits while remaining committed to LSU.
I have been very careful to not get anyone's hopes up on Ricks and Ohio State being a realistic thing and I would have to say that right now, even the most optimistic sources on Ohio State's chances, are not very confident that Ricks is seriously entertaining the idea of going anywhere other than LSU.
Odds were never particularly good, even going back to the spring when there was a little bit of turmoil at LSU, but with the NCAA stuff out of the news lately and LSU's strong start to the season, there isn't a ton of room for optimism on Ricks going back on his pledge to the Tigers.
Ricks did tell me he's trying to go into visits with an open mind though. I asked him what he would need to see from any of his four other visits that would give a school a legitimate chance to pull him from LSU, but he couldn't really come up with an answer for that. He told me that he has never been on an official visit so he just doesn't know what to expect yet and that if something happened that would change his mind, it would be one of those things where he would just know it and feel it when it happened.
I think there would have to be major shake up at LSU to change the outcome here and short of the NCAA coming in over the next two months and moving more quickly than it ever has on an investigation, I don't see a scenario where shake up is coming. LSU's strong start has stabilized the coaching situation and I've always said that even if LSU had a bad season and fired Orgeron (which now looks incredibly unlikely) that defensive backs coach Corey Raymond would be a top priority for the next guy to retain, so right now I'm not seeing the pathway to Ohio State here, but we'll see how things play out over the next couple of months.
Intriguing O-Lineman to watch
Ohio State's 2020 offensive line class appears to be full right now. The Buckeyes hold six commitments at the position and there hasn't been much to talk about there since Josh Fryar gave his pledge in early July.
Looking ahead to 2021, Ohio State already holds a commitment from one of the nation's best prospects in Ohio star Ben Christman. There is another 2021 offensive lineman emerging in a big way, however, and that is IMG Academy's J.C. Latham.
Latham has been on the Ohio State radar for a while but what makes him interesting is that he has mostly been on the radar of college programs as a defensive lineman. Latham holds about two dozen early offers and is a Rivals250 product as a defensive lineman, but he is now starting at left tackle for IMG Academy.
I watched Latham on Friday night against St. Joe's Prep and he probably passed the eyeball test better than any kid on the field outside of maybe Elias Ricks. On a field with more than a dozen big-time prospects, that is saying something. The transition to offensive tackle has been pretty amazing and I could actually see him ending up a five-star guy at that position where his upside is substantially higher than it is on defense.
At 6-foot-6, 285-pounds, Latham has a huge wingspan and is one of those rare athletes at the position. This is an example of a kid keeping an open mind and making a change in position from a spot where he could be a very good player to a spot where he could be a special player with elite athleticism for the position.
The good news for Ohio State is that I'm told the Buckeyes are in the driver's seat right now with LSU also right up there and several others in a group behind those two. There are people around the IMG program who are very high on OSU's chances to land a commitment from Latham down the road, probably in the spring when he starts taking his official visits.
Latham came up to Columbus with Lejond Cavazos back in the spring and told me on Friday night that he would like to return for a game this fall, likely with Cavazos for the Penn State game in November so two early unofficial visits would also fit the criteria of an out-of-region guy that Ohio State can land.
I have put in an early pick for Latham to Ohio State. Lejond Cavazos has done some major work here and Latham told me that the family has been really pushing Ohio State to him and that he has been talking to them a lot about the Buckeyes while also keeping up with Mark Pantoni the most from the OSU staff.
When Latham visited last spring, he thought he was a defensive lineman and I'm honestly not sure that Ohio State would have ended up prioritizing him if he had been stubborn about that position.
But as an offensive tackle? Priority guy, and one with big-time upside.
Looking ahead at running back
While much of the focus in the 2020 class is on figuring out how the running back position will shake out. Ohio State continues to put an emphasis on the position in 2021 as well. The Buckeyes are keeping a close eye on several in-state and Midwest targets at the position, but I'm told another target is emerging lately as well and that is IMG Academy's Lovasea Carroll.
Carroll, a Georgia native who recently decommitted from South Carolina, has been sidelined recently with an injury (should be back within a couple of weeks) and that has perhaps slowed down some of the hype here as he has missed some prime opportunities to show what he can. But he is IMG's top back when healthy and according to a source at IMG "absolutely loves the Buckeyes".
Carroll has been talking frequently with Ohio State lately, especially since his decommitment from South Carolina and now that the Contact window for the 2021 class is open.
Another IMG source told me that Ohio State has been very pro-active in recruiting Carroll, moreso than regional powers like LSU and Alabama, and that could help Ohio State get off to a fast start. They speculated that the injury has sort of kept things a little more quiet with Carroll than they otherwise would be if he was out there putting up big numbers against IMG's meat grinder of a schedule and that Ohio State is probably the one school that has most taken advantage of this.
I think this could be a tougher pull than Latham and am not ready at all to pick in a pick for Ohio State at this point, but he's definitely on my radar and worth watching. I even had one person at IMG tell me they felt that Carroll, when healthy, will prove to be as good as Trey Sanders. That is pretty high praise, and maybe some hyperbole there, but Carroll is an extremely impressive athlete at 6-foot-1, 190-pounds, so I can see the comparisons.
St. Joe's thoughts
Ohio State holds a pledge from 2021 Philadelphia (Pa.) St. Joe's Prep quarterback Kyle McCord but McCord hasn't been the only prospect of interest in the Pennsylvania powerhouse program. Wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. remains a guy to watch closely for the Buckeyes. Harrison Jr. has really developed a good relationship with Brian Hartline and if Marvin had to decide today, there's little doubt in my mind that he would pick Ohio State.
But there is also 2021 linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. Trotter Jr. is committed to Clemson, and I have no real reason to believe that he isn't solid with that pledge. Yet Ohio State is still keeping tabs on him and has been keeping a close watch on his junior film, which is going to be outstanding. Trotter was all over the field on Friday night against IMG Academy. He is not as big or physically imposing as his dad was, but that is one tough and instinctual football player.
I don't know if it will be too late or not, but it would not surprise me at all to see Ohio State get a little more aggressive here and test the waters and see how strong that Clemson pledge is. Definitely something to watch over the next few months.
St. Joe's also has a class of 2022 defensive back by the name of Keenan Nelson Jr. who I think will be a name to remember moving forward. Nelson Jr. was very impressive on Friday, really made a lot of nice plays out there on an island against a very talented group of older IMG wide receivers. He's probably the next guy up at the program and it would not surprise me to see Hartline and Jeff Hafley begin to get involved there.
